Seattle Atheists

We recently received a comment from Elaine B., which may be interesting to some Seattle Atheists members.

You do not, under any kind of decent moral standing have the right to target children with your ads. The idea of using a child fantasy such as Santa Claus to attract their attention is just as moral as Camel cigarettes using Joe the Camel to sell their garbage.

I am all for your free rights of speech. You have a right to push your ideas. Just as I have a right to push what I believe in. But, SHOVING your NON beliefs down the throats of children that have other cultures is unacceptable.

I just read your news release. Using the founding fathers as you are, if you have legitimate proof of their religious standings is one thing. But having a giant Santa Claus to get little childrens attention is very immoral. What were you thinking?

Then again, religion is often the foundation of teaching morals, so maybe that is what has happened with your decision making ability?

How would you like me to stand somewhere your child/grand childre, or someone in your organizations young people, and tell them you are a liar? Just as your ad says to our children? Would you like your child to pass such contradiction of what you teach? Maybe I should put some ads out there with, I don’t know, a super hero,with a big ad as ignorant as yours, stating, “I got all my powers from God”

Everyone in this world has a right to believe what they do, and to raise their families the way they find to be the truest in their hearts.
What this ad is trying to accomplish is the very thing you are supposedly fighting!

You attempt to brainwash people! Leave MY children alone.

Any serious problems with the content of the comment will be left as an exercise for the reader. However, I would like to point out a couple of things which might be important to people:

1. The Santa Claus bus signs on the outside were contracted by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and are completely independent of our signs on the inside of the bus.
2. That whole part about “How would you like me to stand somewhere your child/grand childre, or someone in your organizations young people, and tell them you are a liar”? That happens. A lot.
3. Atheism is apparently as bad as smoking.
4. I’m also pretty sure that the whole super hero thing she’s talking about already exists. Just sayin’.

sam Blog Atheism in the news, Bus signs

Great story by Shannon O’Leary in the August edition of Seattle Magazine. Read the full story here.

Seattle’s Atheists Speak Out: A new public service campaign lets local nonbelievers come out of the closet

When I was growing up in Seattle in the 1970s, religion was still a mostly behind-closed-doors matter. Heated faith debates were as rare, and frowned upon, as indulging in political rants or gossiping about the divorced family in the neighborhood. It simply was not done. Not in polite company, anyway.

In those days, Seattle was famously regarded as one of the most unchurched cities in America. Today, much like any other major metropolitan area, megachurches are prominent here, and religion is overtly in our mix—from political figures (such as U.S. Representative Dave Reichert, who openly advertises his faith) to insomniac telecasts by local evangelist Casey Treat and town hall debates featuring charismatic Christian preacher Mark Driscoll of Seattle’s Mars Hill Church. This relatively new forthrightness of faith can be a social hazard for the uninitiated (like myself). For example, the time at a business lunch when a middle-aged companion suddenly became prostrate over his plate; fearing a cardiac episode, I worriedly inquired of his health only to learn he was in solemn pre-appetizer prayer. I couldn’t have been more startled.

I was even more surprised when Metro buses bearing overtly atheistic ads began touring the city in April, and this traditionally groundhog population suddenly popped into view. For eight weeks, some 80 ads in the form of pointed historical quotations were delivered up for public consumption. One ad quoted Susan B. Anthony: “I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.” (Imagine the bus-stop chatter that provoked.) The tagline by the ads’ sponsor, Seattle Atheists (seattleatheists.org), was “We Believe in You!” For polite, albeit progressive, Seattle, this mass-media atheism campaign was exotically in your face. (In keeping with the economic constraints of the day, however, it was exceptionally cost-conscious; the ads only cost about $400.)

It seems that our city has joined the nation’s growing atheism-empowerment movement. Although the number of avowed atheist Americans is small, according to a recent New York Times story on the trend, those admitting to a no faith base has almost doubled from 8 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008, with an increase noted in all 50 states; during that same period, the tally of self-identifying Christians dropped from 86 percent to 77 percent. Also on the rise are local and national faith-free organizations, charitable donations to them and increasing public displays of disbelief, such as the bus ads, which began in London in January and quickly migrated to Canada and the United States. Widely credited for helping to bring the atheist message into the mainstream have been best-selling atheistic works by authors such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens.

Amanda News Atheism in the news, Media, News

Our bus ads have been featured in the Seattle Times. They’ll be going up in the inside of about 40 buses on April 1st.  Keep an eye out, and let us know how they look.  Read the story here.

“Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.”
- Thomas Jefferson

“I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.”
- Susan B. Anthony

“If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.”
- Albert Einstein

admin News Atheism in the news, Bus signs, Media, News, Past Events

As many of you are aware, the Seattle Atheists advertising campaign will begin April 1 on the King County Metro buses and will run for about one month. The brightly colored signs will appear on the inside of the buses and will feature quotes from Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.

Our president, Paul Case, was interviewed about the bus campaign by KOMO News, and you can get the story here: http://www.komonews.com/news/local/41618287.html

Jami News Atheism in the news, Bus signs, Education, Media, News, Past Events